


More than just Brothers

by YvY91



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Ability to Project and Share Feelings, Attempted Murder, Elijah Kamski & Gavin Reed are Twins, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Gavin Reed Whump, Gen, Heavy Angst, Hurt Elijah Kamski, Hurt Gavin Reed, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Protective Siblings, Sibling Bonding, Sibling Love, Slow Burn Gavin/Connor, and more - Freeform, with a Special Bond
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2020-05-13 19:27:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19257664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YvY91/pseuds/YvY91
Summary: Gavin and Elijah have always had shared a special bond with each other, and as a planned attack on one of them threatens to destroy this connection for good, a fight for life and death begins.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, umm... well this idea got stuck in my head after watching 'The Haunting of Hill House', the episode 'The twin thing' to be exact.
> 
> What would be if Gavin and Elijah were twins, but with a special bond?
> 
> The ability to project and share feelings with each other, intentionally or not.  
> I just had to write it. :)
> 
> P.S.: I didn't want to Spoiler too much, that's why the Summery is so short
> 
> P.P.S: This is a reupload, I had some issues with the text and had to post it again

It was one of those rare quiet days at the precinct and Gavin couldn't suppress a groan as he leaned back in his chair while he played around with his phone trying to get over the last few minutes of his shift as quickly as possible.

Only a few minutes more and he could finally clock out for today, he really hated it, if there was nothing really to do, it always seemed like the time was crawling along at a snail's pace.

There were no new cases and the one that was still open was a dead end and at the same time a pain in his ass. He went over every note and evidence for at least ten times today, it wasn't really much of a surprise that Gavin could almost tell everything from memory by now. 

Gavin let his gaze wander around the bullpen, it seemed that he himself wasn't the only one sitting around doing nothing, he found this kind of quiet was almost uncomfortable.

No murders, no cases with red ice.

Nothing... nada.

Just some drunk assholes this morning, who found it funny to dance buck naked around in the middle of the street, screaming at the top of his lungs, and afterwards to vomit onto the back seats of Officer Percons' patrol car. 

He closed his eyes briefly as a feeling of nervousness and something he could not put his fingers on, went through his mind. _That_ was definitely not coming from him, he looked down at his phone, maybe he should text his brother?

It was quite unusual for his brother to be so nervous all of a sudden, not that it was something uncommon for Gavin, Elijah felt many things, but nervousness wasn't among it often.

He let those feelings, that weren't his own, wash over his mind as he thought back to the time in his childhood. 

How they realized very early in their childhood that they had the ability to feel the emotions of the other and it was not just limited to emotions, but also physical feelings like pain or even sickness. 

If one of them was injured or sick, the other would feel it too, and Gavin found out the hard way that he himself was much more sensitive, because at one point, it went so far, that when Elijah worked on his ideas for hours without taking a break to have something to eat, Gavin had almost fainted due to hunger, even though he himself had eaten something.  
  
While Elijah was the stone-faced man, seemingly insensitive to strangers and outsiders, he was a storm on the insides, strong feelings would always be projected towards Gavin, and Gavin as the more emotional of the two, mixed up all those feelings every so often, unable to distinguish which ones were his own, and which ones were projected by his brother.  
  
So it sometimes happened that Gavin would literally explode into an emotional mess, even though he was trying to keep everything inside himself like Elijah did.  
  
Elijah didn't take it well most of the time and as the times passed, he felt more and more disturbed by it, and then someday Elijah had done something almost unbelievable, and cruel at the same time. Elijah had taken complete control over the bond they shared and closed off every piece of his own feelings, the first time he did so, Gavin collapsed, believing that Elijah had died, Gavin had screamed at the loss, that washed over him like a Flood.

It had taken hours for Elijah to calm Gavin down, followed by countless apologies and the promise not to do that ever again.    
A few years later that promise was broken as his brother turned his back on him, unable to be constantly connect to each other, he started to replace Gavin with androids, as they were better in every way.  
  
Elijah had just forgotten him like that...had deleted him. 

Unwanted was the bond they once shared, a _liability_ and _distraction_ as Elijah liked to call it then.  
  
Elijah didn't need something like this in his life, and within a few days after Elijah's first Android passed the Turing test, every single call from Gavin had been ignored, as well as every attempt by Gavin to reconnect their bond.  
  
The long distance had torn a hole inside Gavin, it was like something very important was suddenly stolen from his insides, like a vital organ was ripped out.  
  
That feeling of _'nothingness'_ festered in him like a tumor and it had cost him countless hours of sleep which in turn triggered a wave of self-destruction in his life.  
  
The hate Gavin felt for those emotionless plastic things, that had replaced him, was almost strong enough to fill the hole Elijah left behind, and at the same time he longed for his brother every damn day, he wanted just one word, a tiniest bit of the connection they once had had in hope that it was able to guide him out of the darkness that was his life now.

Yet, there was nothing, no word from his brother, nothing...and as the time went by Gavin felt like someone had dumped him in the middle of the ocean, under a moonless and starless sky, so not only the water suffocated him but also the darkness that surrounded him, while he continued to float along the current that carried him deeper and deeper into despair.

Then, one day, in the middle of the night, a call had reached his phone, it was his brother.  
  
Gavin hadn't hesitated for a second and took the call.  
  
To say that Elijah was distraught would have been an extreme understatement, his brother was crying, shouting, sobbing, and suddenly all those emotions that Elijah felt slammed into him like an avalanche.  
  
Those feelings were so strong...everything was so overwhelming after such a long time without that connection, that Gavin's lungs had pushed all the air out in shock and refused to expand for almost two minutes.  
  
In the end, Gavin had managed to control himself, he had taken a deep breath, only to vomit in distress afterwards as he leaned over the side of his bed.  
  
When he was able to listen to what his brother had to say, he couldn't believe it at first, thought it to be some kind of twisted dream, but it wasn't, and his brother told him he had left Cyberlife, that he wanted Gavin back in his life, that he was unable to ignore the feeling of the void that ate away at him.  
  
Gavin, like the idiot he was, hadn't even changed out of his sleep clothes as he raced to his car, and drove to Elijah's house as fast as possible.  
  
Elijah had tackled him just as he got out of his car and it was like every invisible wound inside of him was suddenly healed with a single touch.  
  
They went inside and cried trough the night, holding onto each other while Elijah's words of apologize never ceased throughout the night.  
  
The next day they talked about what happened in the last few years, how much hurt Elijah caused Gavin, how angry Gavin was at Elijah for doing that to him, for leaving and replacing him with emotionless androids, and after his ranting he punched Elijah in the face, which in turn hurt him too, but it was totally worth it. They agreed to each other that, if Elijah ever felt the need to disconnect their bond, he would warn Gavin before doing so.  
Time went by and the bond they shared was stronger than ever.  
  
And now here he was, android revolution a year behind them, sitting at his desk, and musing over his past.  
  
Gavin shook his head to clear his head and unlocked his phone to write a quick text to his brother  
  
_'Hi Eli, what's gotten in to you? Why so nervous?'_  
  
The moment his brother received the text the feeling vanished and Gavin frowned to himself, he hated it sometimes when his brother closed himself of without a prior warning. He couldn't brace himself fast enough like this, and it always tore a bit at him, leaving an empty feeling behind.  


How often had he told Elijah _not_ to do that?  
__  
'What the fuck was that...won't I even get a normal reply now, asshole? I told you not to do that, you know how it makes me feel, you prick.'  
  
Huffing angrily under his breath, he turned his phone off and stuffed it in his pocket, just as he left the building, a feeling of shame overcame him, followed by love.  
  
Gavin smiled to himself, he knew what Elijah wanted to tell him and decided to call Elijah later to ask again why he was so nervous to begin with, because if Gavin was honest to himself, he was somehow curious, what caused his brother to feel nervous like a little girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it so far and I'd be happy to read about it in the Comments :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo, uhhh …I'm so sorry for the long wait, life has been rather crazy lately.
> 
> Thanks to all who left comments and kudos <3

Gavin arrived home with a relieved sigh, he discarded his leather jacket, badge and gun on the kitchen counter before he made his way over to the couch. Tiredness spread through him the moment he let himself drop with a groan, he felt as if he could fall asleep like this immediately.

Leaning back against the pillows, he put his feet on the coffee table in front of him and pulled his phone out of his pocket to turn it back on.

Two missed calls.

Gavin huffed under his breath as he dialed his brother, after a few rings of no one picking up, he chucked his phone to the side. It wouldn’t do him any good to be angry right now, his brother would call him back either way, like he always did, probably in the middle of the night.

He knew he should rather to go to bed now, or his back would kill him in the morning if he fell asleep like this. Nevertheless he stayed and the soft cushions beneath him dragged him to sleep in a matter of minutes,

Several hours later, Gavin startled out of sleep with a snort as his cell phone began to ring beside him, he let out a annoyed moan and reached over and picked up without looking at the screen beforehand.

"Hey, Eli, you know how late it is, right?" muttered Gavin, rubbing over his face with his free hand, a few seconds passed and no answer reached him, he could only hear a faint crack in the background.

"Um, hello? Eli?" Gavin took his phone away to glance at the display.

' _Unknown number'_

What the hell?

"Who's there?" Again, he was only met with silence causing Gavin to mutter a curse under his breath and disconnected the call.

A little miffed he stood up, he still had a few hours before he had to get up again and only a few minutes later, Gavin was in his bed, when his cell phone started ringing again.

Pissed off, he reached towards his phone. _'Unknown Number'_

"Hello?" Silence. "Listen, that ain't funny. What do you want?!" He hung up in frustration when he did not get an answer. It rang again as soon as the detective ended the call, and didn't stop for hours, at some point Gavin was so pissed, he just turned his phone off.

Getting to work with only two hours of sleep was not helping his mood at all. The detective stood at one of the tables in the break room staring down at his coffee like it had offended him.

"Gav?" He looked up and saw Tina standing to his left, she looked like she had tried to get his attention for a while now.

"You look like crap, are you ok?" She nudged his arm with her elbow and looked at him with a disapproving frown.

"Yeah. No. Some asshole called me throughout the night. Damn it, I'm tired as fuck." He glanced at his friends' face and gave her a small weary smile.

"I'm alright, T. Probably just some prank call. Don't worry."

She nodded. "I think you should go home, I'm sure Fowler will give you a few days off. It's quiet and you don't have any cases to work on right now. You have not allowed yourself a day off this year."

Gavin scoffed, but thought about it. "You know what T? Why the fucking hell not."

He emptied his coffee and made his way over to the captain's office, where Fowler looked at Gavin as if he had lost his mind. He asked if Gavin was ill because he has never voluntarily asked for a vacation before. In the end, he sent Gavin home and told him to take a week off.

The detective made his way over to his desk to gather his things, but stopped when he saw a white envelope lying on the middle of his desk.

Where did that come from? That had definitely not been there before.

He reached for the envelope and turned it around to look for a name or something similar. It was blank.

When he tore it open to look inside, he found only a small letter. 

Gavin almost choked when he saw what was written there in thick letters.

**_'WE WILL GET YOU !'_**  What the ever loving ....

 

He let his fingertips hover over the words until they came in contact with the paper, and Gavin felt his eyes dilating as he was overcome with a feeling of maliciousness. Drawing in a deep breath to keep himself calm and grounded, he let the feeling wash over himself, standing unmoving in front of his desk, eyes open, but unseeing.

Whoever had written this, meant those words...and not in a nice way.  

Movements to his right side brought him back to the present, he looked up to come face to face with Connor, who's LED spun in a wildly patterns of blue and yellow. 

"Detective Reed, I- Is everything alright?" The android looked at him but brown eyes not did not met his, instead, they were fixed to the letter in Gavin's  hands.

"Yeah, tin-can. Just fuckin' great. Did you see where this came from?" Gavin asked, gripping the little paper between his fingers until it started to tear a bit.

"No, I'm sorry. Detective, this looks rather serious, maybe you should tell the Captain about it?" Connor started to fidget with a coin in his hand while he talked, it suddenly seemed like Connor was unsure of himself, and Gavin almost snapped at him to shut up, but hold himself back as he saw the look on the android's face.

Gavin had noticed a few weeks ago that Connor's face showed more and more human  like emotions as well as other expressions over time. Sometimes Gavin found it hard to remember that Connor, despite all the emotions, was still not human. That the Android could not grow old or get sick. That Connor would lead a longer life than any human could.

Eventually, Connor would see Hank die, as well as a few of human friend's, Connor would certainly find in the course of his life, without getting a day older himself, it was like a curse.

The detective wasn't sure if he could envy this, seeing loved ones die was never easy, even for an android.

Gavin let out a cough. "No, don't bother Fowler with this, it's probably just a joke or something. I got the rest of the week off anyway, so..." The detective shrugged, picked up his things, and stuffed the letter into his pocket. "See you next week, tin-can." Gavin said and he stepped around Connor to made his way out, feeling the android's eyes following him until he was out of view.

Once home, Gavin quickly packed a small bag before sending a brief message to his brother, not waiting for a reply before he made his way towards his car.

The drive there went by quickly and soon enough Gavin stood in front of Elijah's door, which was opened before he even got the chance to ring the damn bell.

It was Chloe, her radiant smile was almost infections. "Hello Gavin, Eli is waiting for you." The android said and stepped aside to let Gavin in.

He found his twin lounging in the living room, not waiting for his brother to acknowledge him, he made his way over, and threw himself onto the sofa to Elijah's left, making his brother bounce in process. Elijah looked at him then, his face emotionless, but those blue eyes shone with happiness. "Hey, Gav. To what do I owe you this sudden visit?"

Gavin snorted and leaned closer to his brother's side to enjoy the warmth of his twins' body heat. "I just wanted to see you." Gavin twitched as he remembered the last night and letter from today.

"What was going on with you, yesterday? Why were you so nervous?"

His brother hummed. "Sorry, Gav. I didn't mean to upset you. It's just...uhh, you know Chloe..." Elijah looked to the ground for a moment, then back up again. "She kissed me and told me she liked me, I was surprised. Very much so." Seeing his brother's flustered face drew a short laugh out of Gavin.  
  
"Jesus Eli, took you both long enough. I mean, I don't know what Chloe really feels for you, but I know that you like her." Gavin raised one eyebrow towards his oblivious brother as blue eyes looked at him intensely.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean, Gav? You already knew? Of course you did. I should have known. You always know before I do." said Eli with a slightly amused sound in his voice.  
Gavin shrugged with his shoulders and smiled. "Yeah, I guess. You do tend to let you feelings slip when Chloe is around. Yesterday was- You projected your feelings so strongly I couldn't place them then. Now it makes sense though. Where is Chloe anyway?"

"She wanted to visit her sisters, leave us alone for a few hours, she should be back by tomorrow morning."  
Elijah moved around where he sat and Gavin let out a yelp of surprise when his twin let himself slide to the left, squashing Gavin underneath him.  "Uffff, Eli...Move your fat ass off of me." He huffed under his breath, Elijah was sprawled over him now like a blanket. His twins' head rested on his chest and Eli's arms stared to wrap around his waist. "Love you Gav. You know that right?"   
  
Gavin chest filled with warmth and he raised his own arms to hug his twin closer, tilting his head until his cheek came to a rest on top of Elijah's head. "Love you too, Eli." Gavin whispered back.  
  
"You know you can talk to me too, right?" Eli asked softly.  


Well, that was strange. Gavin frowned and raised his head. "What are you talking about?"  


Elijah gave a small sigh and lifted his head from Gavin's chest so that they looked into each other's eyes.

"We were only talking about me, but...I want to know- You were afraid today. I mean like seriously scared. You frightened me, Gav. I thought something bad happened at work. I was just about to call you when you texted me that you were coming over." Gavin shivered, a combination of his own memory and Elijah's emotions made his hair stand up.  
  
Gavin nudged his twin and asked him to get up, when they sat side by side again, Gavin took the small letter, he had received today, out of his pocket.

"This was placed on my desk today. Didn't know from whom or why, it's just..." Gavin winced at the feeling it gave him and placed the piece of paper onto his brother's outstretched hand.  
  
Blue eyes were fixed on the offending letter, as he turned it around to the other side and back again. A frown started to build up at Elijah's face before blue eyes settled on Gavin once again.  
  
"Gav, I don't like this. You know I can't feel things from inanimate objects by touching the way you can. But if you have felt something so strong, it has never meant anything good." Gavin was well aware of that and Elijah's concern washed over him in waves that almost made Gavin shudder.

"Yeah, I know. Just don't know how serious this is. I mean -" Gavin let out a groan and let himself drop back to the cushions. "Look, I just can't accuse anyone for a written piece of paper. I guess that someone in the DPD put it there, you know how many people I pissed off since I work there. So I won't even bother to check security. Connor didn't see anyone either, and the fuck will I talk to Fowler about this."  
  
Gavin raised his hands in dismay.

"Fowler will sent me to the next psych ward if I just go waltzing into his office without evidence like, _'Hey, Boss. I know, I never told you. But if I want to, I have the ability to sense emotions on inanimate objects left behind by people...and this letter here? Which was placed on my desk, told me that someone is after me'_ Yeah, that would definitely be a very good idea." Gavin's voice was dripping with sarcasm by the end of his little speech, and Elijah, despite the situation, couldn't help himself and doubled over laughing.  
  
Gavin's grey eyes crinkled at the corner by the sound of Eli's laugh, till he chuckled alongside him. The sight of his boss' face, if Gavin would dump him with something like this, would be unforgettable.  
  
A few moments went by until they both had calmed down again and Eli let out a small cough. "Well, on a more serious note...I want you to be careful, Gav. It could be nothing, an one-time thing by someone you pissed off, or -"  Elijah waved the small letter around, which was still gripped between his fingers. "As serious as it sounds. Promise me, alright?"  
  
Gavin nodded in earnest. "Yeah, yeah...I promise, now get off my balls."  
  
"Alright then."  Eli groaned and stood up to stretch himself while he glanced at Gavin's bag in the corner of the room. "You staying here today?"  
  
Gavin nodded his head in acknowledge. "Planned too, if you don't mind. Have a few days off and thought I could stay?"   
  
"Sure, Gav. Don't even have to ask. So, Pizza and movies for today?"  Elijah received a genuine smile in response, and a few hours later, the brothers where found deeply asleep on the big couch, not realizing that they were being watched.

Not knowing that the next few days they spent together could be their last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What an ending….please don't kill me, lol. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it, let me know what you think?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, uh...sorry for the delay, again. Thank you all for the support, I love you guys. <3

The next few days with his brother and Chloe went over faster than Gavin would have liked, and now he found himself standing in front his own apartment door on a Sunday evening. 

The whole building felt deserted, too empty and quiet. No noise of a TV playing inside another apartment or even people talking, just utter silence that made his own breathing seem louder. 

In the hallway behind him, dim, flickering light kept drawing grotesque, harsh shadows along the walls, which was not helpful for the situation Gavin seemed to be confronted with. 

To be alone in the small apartment he called his home.

He hated it, the feeling of being lonely. When his mind sauntered to the darkest places it could find while he tried not get lost in it.  

Standing still and motionless for a while longer with his keys inserted inside the lock, his door still unopened, he thought about the offer his brother made him just before he left a few minutes earlier. 

To move out and live with Elijah and Chloe. It was a safer part of Detroit, still close enough to drive to work every day. Gavin shook his head, he really should stop to zone-out every now and then. 

Once inside he packed away his things, took a short shower, and launched onto the couch with the biggest mug of hot chocolate he could get. 

A rare occurrence he allowed himself, it calmed his mind and was surely better than to dose his senses with alcohol. Wrapped inside a warm blanket, his gaze turned to the TV on the wall, were an old movie from 2012 played. 

He didn't really pay attention to it as he was again and again overwhelmed by the feeling of being watched. It had started shortly after he entered his home. 

Was it paranoia? Was his mind playing tricks again? It wouldn't be the first time that something like this would happen, but definitely the first time since he got into contact with his brother again. 

He remembered those many months he had spent lonely and cast aside with only his work to fully focus on. The DPD was the only thing that had kept him alive after his brother had cut connections with him. 

Gavin let out a stuttering breath as his fingers began to draw meaningless patterns on the soft, expensive surface of the blanket. He tried to focus on it and how it felt on his fingertips, all to distract his mind before it could wander further away from reality.

The memory of how his brother gave it to him after their reunion. Even after years of no contact Elijah hadn't forgotten Gavin's preference for soft things. 

At first Gavin refused to accept the gift, it was too expensive, but he quickly gave in after touching the surface.

Just as he started to relax, the feeling of being watched returned, stronger than before; with a growl on his lips, Gavin got up and walked to the windows to check the streets below. It was late, only a few cars drove by and no one was in sight.

With one hand on the wall he started to walk through his whole apartment in hope to sense something that didn't belong, he checked the bookshelves, every inch were someone could have hiddenn a camera, or some other device. 

There was nothing, but the excruciating feeling in the back of the head that something was wrong did not leave him alone.

Memories of the constant calls and the message at work resurfaced, along with the realization that he may not be as safe as he originally thought. "Fuck," he cursed for a full minute unsure at how to proceed. 

He wouldn't get sleep like this, not even for one second. 

Before he even had the chance to think about what to do, the sound of his doorbell almost made him jump out his damn skin. He stood still, watching to the front door like someone was about to bust it down any second now. 

The doorbell rang again, followed by a sharp knock, "Detective Reed?" a familiar voice called out, and Gavin's eyebrows drew together in confusion. 

The voice sounded like Connor's. 

After a quick check through the security camera beside the door he opened it. "The fuck are you doing here, tin-can?" Gavin felt the urge to close the door again, however, the face of the android in front of him made him stop in his movements. 

There was a layer of blue over Connor's cheeks and the android was breathing heavily as if he had just run a marathon. Gavin was aware that androids only needed to breath to cool themselves, so what the ever loving fuck was the RK800 doing before he arrived here?

Opening the door a little further he motioned the android to go inside. It was too late for this shit, his nerves were already fried, and to snap at android wouldn't help right now. 

Connor came to a stop in the middle of the hallway were he gazed back at the detective, brown eyes moved up and down as if he was looking for something.

"You see something you like, dipshit? I asked you a question. What the hell are you doing here?" Gavin let his voice rise a little towards the end without taking his eyes off Connor.

The android's breathing had calmed somewhat while the blue still lingered on the android's cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Detective Reed. I know it's late, but I needed to check on you. I -" the android moved nervously from foot to foot while he started to fidget with the coin in his hands. "I was still in the precinct when I received a call on my desk phone. When nobody answered I traced the caller....He was inside this house. I then tried to contact you, but your phone is turned off." Gavin watched Connor as he stared to the ground and let the information that the android provided him with sink in.

The man wanted to be angry at the android for coming here so late, though, at the same time a warm feeling started to spread through his chest. 

It felt strange. 

He walked past the android to check his phone on the kitchen counter just to be greeted by a black screen. He tried to turn it on, it couldn't possibly be empty, he had just plucked it in a few hours ago. 

Nothing happened. The black screen stayed dark. 

Great. Now his phone was broken too? He slapped the devise down with a sigh as the clatter of the coin to the floor made him look at the android and then at the coin. Gavin watched as it rolled down across the hard floor until it came to a stop under the kitchen table. 

Instead of wondering why it fell from Connor's fingers in the first place, he bowed under the table to reach for the piece of metal. It felt warm and kind of heavy in his hand, with all his might he suppressed the urge to use his ability to see if he could feel anything on the surface. 

He stepped next to Connor to return the coin as quickly as possible, and only then did he see the android's LED light up in red. He let eyes slip down to look at the android's face. 

Connor's brown eyes were opened wide as they studied the walls surrounding them. There was an uneasiness in the RK800's posture that only ever occurred when there was danger nearby, and Gavin slipped the coin to the front pocket of his sweater to keep his hands free, just in case. 

He too, looked at the walls in front of them but couldn't see anything out of order. 

 

"Tin-Ca-....Connor, what's going on?" the android blinked a few times till brown eyes focused back at him. 

"You haven't been home in the past few days, right?" 

"Umm, no. Why?" 

Another few seconds of silence, Gavin was tempted to hold onto the android's lapel and shake him until he spat it out. 

"There is a lot of dried thirium on your walls -" 

"WHAT?...Wow, wow...wait a damn second. How...What are you-...?" The detective was at a loss for words. The only android besides Connor who ever set foot in his apartment was Chloe. 

What was Connor saying, some android bled over his walls? Was the android accusing him of harming another android inside his apartment? 

 

The android's hand reached towards him only to stop before it made contact with his arm. 

"Detective, I apologize for my choice of words. Yes, thirium. Someone has written words with thirium all over your walls. The same words that were written on the piece of paper that was put on your desk a few days ago. Again and again, hundreds of times." 

It felt like someone was pouring ice-cold water on his inside and Gavin froze from head to toe, even his damn heart stumbled over itself for the next two beats. 

Goosebumps started to rise on his skin. For the first time in his life, Gavin felt unwelcome and insecure in his own home. 

He averted his grey eyes to watch the surface of the walls while he tried to imagine what the words looked like to Connor. 

'We will get you.' 

Someone was here while he was gone. Was it days ago? Weeks. Thirium evaporated after a few hours and could only be seen by androids afterwards.

"Shit," mumbled the detective under his breath which turned faster for a few seconds. Gavin was losing grip on himself, if he was honest with himself nothing really bad happened, but a few threatening words. And of course a break. 

He had received threatening words regularly, why couldn't he get rid of the feeling that something was different this time?

That something bad was going to happen?

The feelings of the person that had written the words on the small slip of paper....they had been so malicious, full of hate and anger. 

Gavin looked down at the fingertips. 

Half an hour ago he had touched every surface on the walls and couldn't feel a thing. 

So either Connor was fucking with him, which he kind of ruled out because Connor's reaction was too genuine for that, or the person who wrote these words on his walls was an android. Only android's that hadn't deviated could touch without leaving anything behind. 

A machine. 

 

It was only through Chloe that Gavin realized that androids could leave something behind for him to pick up, but they needed to be deviant for that.

Chloe always felt warm in a way, like a summer breeze. He could trace pieces and lingering feelings from her in every room inside his brother's home. 

He looked at Connor, who was still watching Gavin with an intensity that made him swallow heavily. He tried place the emotions that seemed to linger in those artificial brown eyes, but he was unable to.

The detective had worked on a small handful of cases with Connor, though he never wanted to see if he was able to sense anything.

The first time he had touched the RK800 was in the break room after meeting him by pressing his index finger against the LED on the side of the android's head. 

It almost had shocked him to the core, Gavin had been so sure that the android had been a deviant then. Connor had behaved so differently than any other machine he had met before.  
As it turned out Gavin had been wrong, and the moment his fingertip came into contact with the synthetic skin, it felt like Gavin himself was deprived of his emotions and feelings. 

It had taken all his willpower not to crumble to the ground next to the android. 

He hated feeling like this. As if he were an emotionless being himself. 

A machine. 

Elijah once asked him why he was so afraid to touch one of the Chloes. Gavin tried to explain to his twin, that just by touching the skin of an android, it felt like something was sapping his body dry of all emotions and feelings until was unable to feel anything himself. He felt deprived of everything for hours on end, but at the same time everything felt cold and dark; nothing felt real anymore or made any sense. 

It was hard to describe, but Elijah had believed him. 

 

That was before the whole deviancy incident and the revolution. 

"Detective, I would suggest you sleep somewhere else for a few days. Just in case. Tomorrow I could take a look at the whole apartment, maybe I'll be able find something useful. It's late now, you need some rest." 

The damn android was right, Gavin couldn't stay here another night, it was late. Elijah was probably asleep by now and he didn't want to worry his brother. 

He moved to his bedroom and bathroom to pack a few things for at least three days. He grabbed his spare phone, which he kept in one of the drawers. Changed his clothes. Everything in just under ten minutes.   
When he entered the open space between the living room and kitchen, in which Connor still stood, he was met with a questioning look. "Where do you want to go?" 

The gray-eyed man shrugged and the travel bag hanging from his left shoulder almost slipped down as he moved, "Hotel, I think. Maybe I'll drive to the precinct for now and see what I can do." a disapproving frown worked itself between Connor's eyebrows. "What? You've got a better idea, dipshit?" 

"You- You could stay with me. I mean, I have my own apartment now and a guest room you could use." 

Gavin was taken aback by the android's offer and let a long sigh, "Why are you being so nice Connor? I keep insulting you and...Just why are you offering to let me stay with you?" Gavin was curious, he couldn't understand why the android just invited him. 

"Detective, someone is clearly threatening you. It would be safer and more logical to stay with someone else for now than to stay alone." a small blip of yellow flickered on Connor's LED, letting Gavin know that it was only half the truth. He wanted to point it out, but instead he kept quiet, arguing with androids never let to anything. An experience he learned over the last years. 

More or less... 

"Jesus, fine. Only for one day, though." 

They made their way to Gavin's car, where he dropped his things onto the back seat. 

"Wait, how did you even come here?" Gavin asked while he watched the android over the top of his car.

"I ran," Connor answered almost too quietly for Gavin to hear.

A snort worked past his lips, "You ran? The whole way from the precinct to my apartment?"  Well, that explained the heavy breathing and blue tinted skin Connor had been wearing when Gavin opened the door. 

"Yes, the Lieutenant had already left and it would have taken too long for a taxi to arrive. I thought you were in danger, it was the fastest way."  

Gavin nodded and left it at that. Still, Connor had been worried enough to ran the whole way to his apartment instead of just calling someone else, or ignore it completely. Why? Gavin didn't know what to make of all this. 

They drove in silence to Connor's address. 

The android's living quarters weren't as bad as he'd thought. A bit smaller, but like his own apartment, the living room and kitchen were an open space. Two small bedrooms and an even smaller bathroom. Everything was bare, there were hardly any personal belongings on the shelves or anywhere else.

"Why do you life on your own instead of with Anderson? You lived with him for over a year, right?" 

The android nodded in response, "Hank told me to try to start my own life and that he was tired of me coming home in the middle of the night because I stayed at work longer. I don't have a sleep schedule like humans do and I woke him up regularly, but I still stay with him on our days off."

Gavin watched Connor as he talked and suddenly remembered the coin he had in his pocket. He grabbed it with his fingertips and held it out for Connor to take. 

  
"Thank you. You should get some sleep, Detective. I will wake you in the morning," said Connor, his voice low and oddly soothing. 

Nodding to himself he mumbled a short 'night' and 'thanks for letting him sleep here' towards the android before disappearing inside the guest room. Something that sounded like 'Goodnight, Gavin' followed his retreating steps just as he closed the door behind himself. 

He shook his head. He must have misheard Connor saying his name, the android never did.

Gavin didn't bother to unpack his things, he just changed his clothes again to sleep in before he switched on his old phone to contact his twin brother, letting him know what had happened. Gavin kept his text short, mentioned that he would stay with Connor for a day or two until everything was clear again and not to worry unnecessarily. 

He stretched himself, trying to find a comfortable position on the bed. 

The bed sheet felt surprisingly soft, much to his delight. He pulled the blanket over his head and let himself sink into the mattress. Despite the unfamiliar surroundings, he quickly fell asleep.

 

Gavin woke up well rested, much to his surprise. A quick check on his phone revealed that he slept over eight hours and it was already nine in the morning. Great, he overslept. With a groan he untangled his legs from the bed sheet and got ready to leave for work. 

The smell of coffee greeted him as he entered the kitchen. A large cup of the brown hot liquid was pushed at his hand by Connor before Gavin had the chance to greet the android. 

Sipping at the hot beverage he reminded himself of the fact that he was late for work. 

"Shit...Why didn't you wake me up?" Gavin grumbled under his breath.

Connor sat down at the table, "You needed to sleep. Your stress levels were extraordinary high for a long time and I used the time to inform the Captain as well as Lieutenant Anderson about what happened." 

  
The detective nearly choked on his coffee hearing this. 

"You did what!? Why!? We don't even know who did it. Do you realize that I will have the captain on my ass for this?" Gavin snapped at the android while stepping closer with one arm raised, moving it wildly through the air to emphasize his words. 

Shit. He wouldn't get any cases to work on unsupervised anymore, for his own safety, and neither could he go back to his own apartment for the next few days. 

 

And Anderson knew about it too. Just fucking wonderful. 

 

"Really great work you piece of plastic detective. At least you could have talked to me about it before running to the boss...fuck."

Connor, who apparently hadn't expected Gavin to react like this, stopped every movement, LED swirled from blue to yellow and back again, processing the moment.

  
Gavin breathed in and out a few times to calm himself, punching the RK800 in the face would hurt himself more than the android.

"Thanks for letting me stay for the night. I'm gonna take my leave now." he walked briefly to the guest room to collect his things. On the way out, he was stopped by the android, who grabbed at his harm. "Detective Reed, I'm not sorry for informing the Captain about the incident. I already told you that your safety is important. You don't need to handle this on your own, just ask for help." 

  
How dare this plastic asshole; clenching his jaw shut until it hurt, he jerked his arm away from Connor's grip, and went to the door without looking back. He knew the android was following him, which was only confirmed when the passenger door opened and closed and the android sat in the seat beside him. 

Gavin's grip on the steering wheel was impossible tight, the knuckles on his hand turning white by the force. Jerking his head to the side, he squinted at the blank face staring back at him, "One single word out of your mouth and I WILL kick you out, got that?" 

Not waiting for a reply he started the car and drove to the precinct. 

 

Jesus, he was so damn pissed it almost overlapped the feeling of uneasiness that had built-up inside him since he got home last evening. Gavin wouldn't be surprised if he received a message from his brother in a few minutes or hours, in which Elijah would either ask what was going on, or to tell him to calm down. 

 

Luckily, the distance from Connor's home to work was even shorter than from his own home. When he stopped the car in the parking lot he practically jumped out to increase the space between him and the android. 

Still fuming and muttering under his breath, he went straight to his desk after entering the building, the android's soft footsteps not far behind. 

"Reed! Connor! My office, now!" Captain Fowler's loud, booming voice rang throughout the office causing Gavin to jump in surprise. He glared heatedly at Connor before storming up the three steps to the boss's door.

  
Anderson was the first person to come into view; this day couldn't get any better. 

"Close the door behind you Connor. Sit down everyone."

Gavin crossed his arms over his chest. "I think I already know why I'm here. Why does Anderson have to be here?"

Fowler's face pulled into a grimace and Gavin couldn't help himself, in his mind he started to count back from three. As soon as he reached one, "Reed! Shut up and sit down." 

  
Bingo! Three seconds. The Captain was pissed, but not overly so. If this had been the case, Fowler would have reacted after one second.

The dark skinned man slowly exhaled, "Detective Reed, explain. What's going? Connor informed me that someone threatened you and broke into your apartment?" 

  
Gavin let out a long groan as he sat back, "Yeah, don't know if it's related, but a few days ago I received phone calls in the middle of the night. Dozens of them. No one answered. The next day I received a 'message' in an envelope on my desk. It said 'We will get you'." Gavin quoted those words with his fingers. A glance to the side revealed Connor and Anderson looking straight at him. 

  
"I've spent the last few days with a friend, nothing happened then. No calls or anything. A few hours after I got back home yesterday, I was greeted by Connor, who told me that he got a call which he traced back to my address. Connor was unable to contact me, and came over himself to see if everything was alright."

Gavin paused shortly to gather his thoughts, "Um, he was able to see evaporated traces of thirium on the walls. It was the same massage I received on the letter." 

Fowler nodded shortly and asked Connor the same things, who confirmed everything.

  
"Alright then, I will send Anderson and Connor out to have a look inside and outside your home. You will stay here until they get back. As for the next few days, you will stay with Connor after work. And no working alone either, always with backup. The last thing I need is a call that you were found dead somewhere." 

With his lips pressed tightly together, Gavin stared to the ground. He had already know what was going to happen, hearing all this was another matter entirely. 

Fowler sighed, raised a hand, and motioned Anderson and Connor to leave.

"Gavin, look at me." to hear Fowler speak so softly was a rarity and Gavin slowly raised his grey eyes to look at almost black ones.

"This is not meant to be a punishment. I just want to make sure that one of my best detectives is safe. It's only for a few days. I hope you will be able to holt your temper in check. Oh, and that 'friend' you visited wasn't your brother by any chance?"

A small grimace worked over the detective's face. He never wanted Fowler to know of his relation to Elijah. However, after a shootout had landed Gavin in the hospital in critical condition, his boss had to step in. Gavin had failed to list a real next of kin in his personal documents, and Fowler met Elijah when he checked on Gavin. 

Fowler agreed to keep everything out of his personal file under the condition to have Elijah's private number, which Fowler could call in case of an emergency.    


Gavin agreed to stay with Connor for the time being, much to his dismay, and left Fowler's office. Outside the door, he was immediately greeted by Anderson's outstretched hand, "I need the keys to your apartment. I don't think you want us to break the door open."

With his keys handed over, Gavin watched as Anderson and Connor left. The detective was surprised at the lack of comments by the Lieutenant. He hoped it would stay that way, it felt humiliating enough already for him to stay back while they snooped around inside his home. 

Fuck, he needed a coffee and his brother. He pulled out his phone to message Elijah. 

It was going to be a hell of a week. Gavin was sure of it


End file.
